Mazatlan in December: Weather, Sea Temperature, Rain Days and Lodging Tax

MEXICO · MAZATLAN · DECEMBER

Mazatlan in December means afternoons near 80.4°F, down from November’s 85.6°F, and 0.78 inches of rain across the whole month, less than half of November’s 1.70. The Pacific still reads 76.6°F. It’s a month for walking the old town in shirtsleeves and finishing the day on a beach.

One fact belongs ahead of any flight search. The U.S. State Department’s Mexico travel advisory rates Sinaloa Level 4, ‘Do not travel’ (we read it on Sept 29, 2026). Read the current text at travel.state.gov, decide for your own household, and favor refundable rates if you book. December’s weather stays what it is either way.

On this page

• Mazatlan weather in December80.4°F highs, 61.3°F lows, 0.78 inches, 2.0 rain days
• Can you swim in Mazatlan in December?Sea at 76.6°F, and what that average of daily maxima means
• How busy and how expensive is Mazatlan in December?The 3% lodging tax, holiday-week booking, what we could not find
• Things to do in Mazatlan in DecemberMalecón, El Faro, historic center, Isla de la Piedra, whale watching
• Mazatlan itinerary for DecemberTwo days built around a 6:38 a.m. sunrise and a 5:23 p.m. sunset
• Mazatlan in December vs November and JanuaryHighs of 85.6, 80.4 and 78.4°F, rain and sea side by side
• Is December a good time to visit Mazatlan?Who should go, who should pick November, and the advisory

Mazatlan is served by General Rafael Buelna International Airport (MZT), operated by Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (OMA), southeast of downtown. We found no verified transfer fare or drive time from the terminal to the hotel zones, so ask your hotel for its current transfer price and price flights and rooms for the same dates.

Mazatlan weather in December: average highs, lows and rain days

Mexico’s national weather service, the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, publishes 1981-2010 normals for station 25062, the Mazatlan observatory in the historic center. It’s a real station, not a grid-cell model. December averages a high of 80.4°F and a low of 61.3°F, with 0.78 inches of precipitation. Every air and rain figure here comes from that one spot. The Zona Dorada hotel strip and Cerritos beach, a few miles north, have no reading of their own.

An average December records measurable rain on 2.0 days by SMN’s count, roughly one day in fifteen. SMN doesn’t publish the threshold behind that count, so don’t set it beside a U.S. rain-day tally. The month’s 0.78 inches is well under half of November’s 1.70. In practice a typical December leaves the schedule alone, and a wet day means swapping the beach for the historic center.

Afternoon and pre-dawn sit about 19 degrees apart (80.4°F against 61.3°F). Pack shorts, a swimsuit and sunscreen for the day, and a light jacket or sweater for the hour after sunset and for early mornings on the Malecón.

On December 15 the sun rises around 6:38 a.m. and sets around 5:23 p.m. local time, about 10 hours 45 minutes of daylight (sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to Mazatlan time). Put beach and boat hours before 5:23 and leave dinner for after dark.

Can you swim in Mazatlan in December? Sea temperature

The sea surface off Mazatlan averages 76.6°F in December, according to the Open-Meteo Marine API over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, the warmest reading of each day, so it sits a shade above a 24-hour average. A source that averages day and night will print a slightly lower number for the same water.

At 76.6°F the water is swimmable, about four degrees under the 80.4°F afternoon air. It’s 4.0 degrees cooler than November’s 80.6°F and 1.4 warmer than January’s 75.2°F. Expect a bracing first minute rather than a bath, then an easy swim.

Our sources carry no wind or swell series for December, so we can’t say how rough the water gets or how the surf behaves at any given beach. Ask your hotel or the boat operator about the day’s conditions before you commit to an island trip.

How busy is Mazatlan in December? Crowds and prices

We found no occupancy series and no monthly hotel-rate series for Mazatlan, so we place December on no price ladder. A claim that it’s the cheapest or the priciest month of the year would rest on numbers we couldn’t check.

For the same reason we give no lead time in weeks. If your dates touch Christmas or New Year, price those nights first and compare them with the week on either side of them. A rate that jumps across a few days tells you which dates cost more, for rooms and for flights alike. General booking groundwork lives in Travel 101.

Sinaloa’s lodging tax (Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje) is 3% under Article 27 of the state’s Ley de Hacienda, which adds $3 for every $100 of room charge. The rate was published in the Gaceta Parlamentaria of Feb 13, 2024, and El Contribuyente and J.A. del Rio confirm it unchanged for 2026. We didn’t verify how each hotel displays it, so ask whether a quoted rate already includes it.

Location is where extra money changes December most. A room on the Zona Dorada or Cerritos strip, Mazatlan’s main hotel-strip beaches, puts the sand and the 76.6°F water at your door. A room in the historic center puts the Malecón, the Angela Peralta Theater and the pier for Isla de la Piedra within walking distance. We have no rate comparison between the two areas.

Things to do in Mazatlan in December

Dry air (0.78 inches for the month) and 80.4°F highs make December a walking month, with a cooler edge than November for long days on foot. It falls in winter, when humpback whales are seen off Mazatlan’s coast and whale-watching boats leave from the marina. We have no verified season dates or prices, so ask the operator whether the whales have arrived.

Mazatlan’s historic center is protected by a federal decree published March 12, 2001, which declared a Zona de Monumentos Historicos over the city and port. The Angela Peralta Theater sits inside that zone. El Faro stands on Cerro del Creston, 157 meters above sea level. The Malecón, the oceanfront promenade, links the historic center to the Zona Dorada.

Isla de la Piedra, across the harbor entrance from the old town, is reached by pangas from a pier near El Faro, a few minutes each way. Informal reports of the fare disagree, so we give no price. Venados, Pajaros and Lobos, the three islands facing the bay, form a federally protected natural area and are reached only by boat. December’s highs run 5.2 degrees below November’s 85.6°F, so a full afternoon on the sand is comfortable.

The Malecón is a promenade with no gate, so walking it costs nothing. For the theater, El Faro and the island boats, our sources give no admission prices or opening hours. Check locally before you plan around them.

Mazatlan itinerary for December

Day one stays on foot and near the water. Sunrise comes around 6:38 a.m., so start the Malecón at 7:00 while the air is still cool. Turn into the historic center by 9:30 for the Angela Peralta Theater (check its hours locally) and the streets of the protected zone, then have lunch out of the midday sun. Around 1:00 p.m. cross by panga from the pier near El Faro to Isla de la Piedra and stay until about 3:30. Be back at El Faro for the last light before the 5:23 p.m. sunset.

Day two is the boat day: a whale-watching trip from the marina, or a boat toward Venados, Pajaros or Lobos. We have no verified departure times, so book through an operator and ask what the water is doing that morning. Spend the afternoon on the Zona Dorada beaches and walk back toward the Malecón at dusk. If one of December’s 2.0 rain days lands on the boat day, swap: give the wet day to the theater and the historic center, and move the boat to a clear morning.

Mazatlan in December vs November and January

Air, rain and rain days for all three months come from SMN station 25062 (1981-2010). Sea temperatures come from the Open-Meteo Marine API (2015-2024). December’s highs sit 5.2 degrees under November’s and 2.0 above January’s, and its lows 5.3 under and 2.1 above. It records less rain than either neighbor, at 0.78 inches against 1.70 and 1.28. The sea drops from 80.6°F to 76.6°F, then to 75.2°F.

Moving four weeks earlier gains 5.2 degrees on the afternoon high and 4.0 on the water, and costs more than double the rain (1.70 inches against 0.78). Moving four weeks later loses 2.0 degrees of high, 1.4 of sea temperature and adds 0.50 inches of rain and a fifth of a rain day. On weather alone, nothing favors the later shift.

Is December a good time to visit Mazatlan?

On weather, yes. December suits anyone who wants dry days, 80.4°F afternoons and water still at 76.6°F, and who plans to walk more than lie still. It suits people who want the cooler edge that November lacks. It suits less anyone chasing the warmest sea of the season. The Level 4 rating on Sinaloa is a bigger factor than any temperature here, so read the current State Department text and book refundable rates while you decide.

If warmth matters most, November gives 85.6°F highs and an 80.6°F sea, at the cost of 1.70 inches of rain. If the advisory rules Mazatlan out for you, where to go month by month and our destinations index point to other places for the same weeks.

December pairs 0.78 inches of rain and an 80.4°F afternoon with 76.6°F water and humpback whales seen off the coast in winter.

The last word

Settle the advisory first, then the dates. If both clear, December in Mazatlan comes down to a Malecón walk that ends before the 5:23 p.m. sunset, a panga across to Isla de la Piedra in the afternoon, and a light layer in the bag for the 61.3°F night.

Sources & data for this guide

• Air temperature, precipitation and rain days (Dec, Nov, Jan) · Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (CONAGUA), normales climatologicas 1981-2010, station 25062 (Mazatlan Obs) · checked Sep 29, 2026. SMN does not publish the rain-day threshold, so the count is not comparable with a U.S. tally.
• Sea surface temperature (mean of daily maxima, 2015-2024) · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Sunrise, sunset and daylight on Dec 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted to Mazatlan time · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Airport operator · OMA, oma.aero/mazatlan · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Lodging tax, 3% (Article 27, Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Sinaloa) · Camara de Diputados, Gaceta Parlamentaria, Feb 13, 2024; rate confirmed for 2026 by El Contribuyente and J.A. del Rio · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Travel advisory, Sinaloa Level 4 · U.S. Department of State, Mexico Travel Advisory · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Historic zone decree of March 12, 2001 and Angela Peralta Theater · INAH, Catalogo Nacional de Monumentos Historicos Inmuebles · checked Sep 29, 2026
• El Faro, 157 meters · Ayuntamiento de Mazatlan tourism portal, text as reproduced in search results · checked Sep 29, 2026
• Protected islands · SEMARNAT environmental impact filing · checked Sep 29, 2026. We could not confirm the exact decree date, so none is given.
• The Malecón, Zona Dorada, Cerritos, Isla de la Piedra crossing and winter whale watching are common knowledge, not verified. We found no admission prices, opening hours, panga fares, occupancy or hotel-rate series, wind or swell data · check operators when you book.